Railroad-tie.



No. 787,399. PATENTED APR. 18, 1905. Z. G. ROBBINS.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1905.

UNTTED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

PATENT @Fmcn.

RAILROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,399, dated April 18, 1905.

Application filed January 21, 1905. Serial No. 242,040.

Be it known that I. Znxas U. Ronmss, a citizen of the United States, residing at \\"ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and Improved liailrozul-Tie, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a portion of this specification.

It is well known to most persons that during quite a number of recent years railroad accidents in this country have been steadily increasing in number, and it is also well known to all railroinl-enginmrs that that increase in the number of railroad accidents has been caused by the quadrupling of the weight of railroad-locomotives without any corresponding increase in the quality and strength of the supporting-ties of the rails of our rail roads. These facts have led me on to the invention of the improved railroad-tie set forth in this specification, of which Fign re 1 of the accompanying drawings is a top view of two of those railroad-ties as they appear when placed in position and combined with the railsw w of a railroad. Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings is a side view of my improved railroad-tie, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same in a line passing through the center thereof.

The drawings are on a scale of one inch to the foot and represent a railroad-tie composed of a sheet-metal trough u, seven and a half feet in length, open at its ends and of sutiicient width to easily receive the two rail-bearing sections 6. which are each one-half the length of the sheet-metal trough and each of which is retained therein by two screw-bolts ff and their screw-nuts, as represented in the accompanyingdrawings. These rail-bearing sections 7/ I should be composed of sound and strong wood, free from sap, and preferably should be twelve inches in breadth and nine inches in depth. Thesides of the sheetmetal trough u should be eight inches in height, and consequently the rail-bearing sections 6/) will rise one inch above thesides ofsaid trough, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The inner ends of the rail-bearing sections 1) b of my improved railroad-tie are strongly connected with each other by means of an oval-shaped metallic tie and six strong spikes (l, three of which spikes must be received into each rail-bearing section /).as shown in the drawings. Those spikes must be of sullicient strength to prevent the separation of those rail-bearing sections by any strain that may be exertedupon them.

Each rail w of a railroad should be secured to each one of the rail-bearing sections 7) of my improved railroad-tie by means of four spikes, as represented in the accompanying drawings, and those spikes should be of suflicient strength to prevent the possibility of the spreading of those rails on any oneof my improved railroad-ties.

In use, as a matter of course, my improved railroad-ties must be properly ballastcd, and when repairs become necessary and a defective rail-bearing section has been withdrawn from the sheet-metal trough a the duplicate rail-bearing section that is then forced into the vacancy caused by that withdrawal will be as perfectly ballasted as the witlnlrawn rail-bearing section had been, whereas when the defective railroad-tie now in use is withdrawn the sound railroad-tie that takes its place has to be as carefully ballasted as the removed railroad-tie had been, and consequently a skilled track-repairer can withdraw one of the rail-bearing sections of one of my improved railroad-ties and supply its place witha sound and perfectly-ballasted rail-bearing section in one-tenth the time required for the withdrawal of the. present railroznl-tie and supplying its place with a sound and perfectly ballasted railroad tie, or, in other words, the expense. of keeping in good state of repair a railroad-track composed of my improved railroznl-ties will not be more than one- -tenth the sum now expended in keeping in such good condition the railroad-tracks now in universal use, and, again, the railroad-tie now in use must be condemned and withdrawn when a defect is discovered in either of its ends, even if its opposite end is perfectly sound, whereas with my improved railroadtie a partially-decayed rail-bearing section thereof can be withdrawn without disturbing its companion section.

I do not intend in this specification to limit myself to any exact proportions of the parts of my improved railroad-ties. It is believed that the herein-described proportions of the rail-bearing sections of my improved railroadties and their connection With each other and the sheet metal trough a will produce a railroad-tie that Will endure every strain that may be exerted upon it; but to make assurance doubly sure it may be advisable in some cases to make the depth of those rail-bearing sections equal to their breadth, and With some kinds of Wood it may be found that six inches will be sufiicient depth to give to those railloearing sections.

Having thus fully described my improved railroad-tie, What I claim therein as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

A railroad-tie composed of a sheet-metal 2 trough a, and tWo rail-bearing sections 5, .7), each of which is one-half the length of said sheet-metal trough, and which are combined With each other and With said sheet-metal trough, substantially in the manner herein 2 represented and described.

'ZENAS C. ROBBINS.

Witnesses:

HENRY ORTH, J r., W. Z. L. HIGGINS. 

